For The Love Of An Elf
by potterfan2006
Summary: A girl's emotional roller coaster stops when the worst happens. One death will bring new life for all those around her. In the end she will discover her true self and fall in love with an unexpected person, or should I say Elf..On Hold till further notice
1. Prologue

**Authors notes:** I wold also like to thank The author of

Unlike everyone for writing her story which inspired me to write my own. I would also like to think her for being my beta for this story and helping me come up with ideas for this. You are a good friend thanks Jessi A.k.a.- krillball6

I do not own any of the charters from Lord of the Rings I am just using them for fun so please don't sew I have no money. I only lay clam to the characters that you do not know and the plot and struggles. As always Read and Review I accept anonymous reviews. Now on to the story

For the Love of an Elf **By:**

**potterfan2006 **

Prologue 

Tracey Vadit knew she was different from all the rest. She was not too pretty and not overly smart. She was quiet and most often times stayed in her room either studying or writing stories or poems. Those who knew her knew that she was a very kind and caring person; below the surface however was a beautiful spirit that very few people saw.

The people that could see her spirit were her best friend Anna, her boyfriend AJ and her friend Sam (who has grown to be more of a big brother than a friend).

Tracey was not into sports but more into fantasy books, especially The Lord Of The Rings a series by: J.R.R Tolken. She felt especially drawn to the character Lord Elrond. She even felt that she could fit in Middle Earth because she was 5 feet 4 inches with sandy blond hair, a pale complexion (that held a nice tan when she got sun) and weighed about 150 pounds.

Tracey was nearing the end of of her Sr. Year of High School and getting ready to start her summer before she went for her dreams of becoming a writer in college. Little did she know that this summer held some surprises that would change her life - forever.


	2. Chapter 1

**Authors notes:** I would like to thank the author of

**Unlike Everyone** for writing her story which inspired me to write my own. I would also like to think her for being my beta for this story and helping me come up with ideas for this. You are a good friend thanks Jessi A.k.a.- krillball6

I do not own any of the characters from Lord of the Rings, I am just using them for fun so please don't sue - I have no money. I only lay clam to the characters that you do not know and the plot and struggles. As always Read and Review, I accept anonymous reviews. Now on to the story.

**For the Love of an Elf**

**By:**

**potterfan2006**

**Chapter 1**

The last day of school started out simply enough for Tracey. Her alarm clock went off at 6:30 in the morning, she got dressed in her normal clothes – nothing too flashy or reveling - then she made her way to school. That, however, is when things started to get interesting.

Tracy walked into to her first period class, integrated computers and sat down. Since this was the last day of school her teacher Mr. Randolph told the class that they could do anything on the computer that they wanted too of course this was providing that it had to be school appropriate.

The first thing Tracey did was check her e-mail. There was not much in her inbox, just some story alerts from which she decided she would read later. However the one thing that caught her eye were the two e-mails from her friend Sam. In the e-mails he said that he loved her and that he wanted to go out with her, the only problem was he was already dating someone by the name of Isis. He wanted Tracey to call him so they could talk, he had something important that he wanted to tell her. Tracy wrote a quick e-mail back to Sam and told him that she would call him that night at about nine thirty. She wanted to call his cell phone so she wouldn't waste his minutes.

It turned out that the rest of the day went normally until she ran into her best friend Anna.

**Flashback**

Tracey walked into her first class after lunch which happened to be math. At this point the day was almost over and for that Tracy was glad since she was just plain frustrated. She was looking forward to this class because this was the only class that she had with her friend Anna She walked into her math class but she was upset because there were rumors flying around school that she slept with her boyfriend AJ but that wasn't true - she had morals. She wanted to get married first before she did "the deed". She hoped that she could find out who started the rumors so she could put a stop to them before it got out of hand. She soon saw her friend standing by her seat and not looking happy. She walked up to her friend and asked, "Hey girl what's up?"

Anna responded, "What's up you ask? I will tell you what's up. I am pissed at you because of the simple fact that I got in trouble from the teacher because you let me copy your paper and I got busted for it. I am always getting in trouble and you are always getting it easy." She twitched a little and her voice raised, "Why do you always get it easy?!"

Tracey was getting pissed; this wasn't the first time Anna had over-reacted. It seemed that her "friend" was always jealous of her for stupid reasons and Tracery was finally sick of it. She usually let it go and tried to be nice, but not anymore. She responded, "First of all I did not let you copy my paper, you did that all on your own."

Anna scoffed, "Some friend you are I can see that you never really cared so this friendship is over. Effective immediately don't ever call me or speak to me ever again unless you get the sense in your head that what you let me do was wrong and can stand up for it." Tracy was floored at what Anna had said but she was not going to fight with her, she knew when to give up. She just couldn't understand why she had to take responsibility for what Anna did, like she didn't make her copy her paper. After a few moments Tracy sat down and somehow managed to finish her math class. Now more then ever she could not wait to speak to Sam that night.

**End Flashback **

At nine forty (she didn't want to seem too desperate) Tracey called Sam and told him all about the fight she had with her now ex-best friend. She just didn't understand why Anna would do that to her. After a while Sam calmed her down and they ended up drifting to the subject of his girlfriend.

"Yes, what I want to tell you is about Isis Tracey." Sam paused as if trying to find words. "We're gonna break up soon, I mean real soon. I just feel that I can't keep this relationship going anymore. I love someone else – you,"

So Tracey and Sam talked for a while about his relationship and his love for Tracey and in the end Sam got Tracey to admit that she loved him and then Sam told Tracey that he loved her back.

Those conversations went on for a while through out the week then one night things took a turn for the worst. It turned out that the fight that Tracey had with her now ex-friend Anna, was to get Tracey to admit that she had loved Sam. Unknowingly, in her moment of weakness, she played into their trap.

Anna knew that Tracey liked Sam and that she would spill her guts to him about the fight, which would make her feel more comfortable with Sam. Anna had grown to hate Tracey and wanted her to suffer and this was the only way she thought she could really hurt her. Tracy was so upset that she let herself get played like that. She found it horrible that two people could play around with her emotions so much.

After many talks with herself she decided that she was strong enough survive and overcome the event. She promised herself that she would never allow herself to fall into someone else's trap.

However a week later she had got a call from her boyfriend AJ. He asked Tracey if it was true that she loved Sam instead of him. For little did Tracey know that Anna contacted AJ and told him everything that was said between Sam and Tracey.

She held her breath. Should she tell him the truth? Shaking her head she denied everything thinking that he would believe her. "I only love you AJ, you know that," Tears pricked the sides of her eyes. 'I hate lying to him but it's the only way. I didn't mean what I said. I'd choose AJ over Sam any day!' She thought to herself.

"I don't think I can believe that Tracey," This hurt Tracey very much, he would trust someone else over his girlfriend of over a year? She thought that he loved her. She knew now that she was wrong. That was when AJ broke up with her.

Slamming the phone down she let her tears fall down her cheeks. Many different emotions were running through her brain. 'How could I be so stupid? How could I think that he loved me? How could I let Anna and Sam ruin everything I worked for!'

Everyone at school thought she was a slut for loving more then one man. Anna ended up spreading nasty rumors about her, saying that she slept with both men and even more rumors then that! Her life was falling apart.

Tracey pushed herself off her bed and made her way to the washroom. She really needed to talk to someone but no one was home. She was alone and suffering. "Please just stop this pain!" Sitting on the toilet seat she grasped the edges and let herself cry. After what seemed like hours she made her way to the sink to wash her face. Grumbling she moved her hand to close the cabinet.

"They always leave this thing open," She growled. Before she closed the door her eyes skimmed the continents of the cabinet. Her eyes grew wide, her hand snapped out and grabbed a bottle.

"Why do we have this?" She looked down at a bottle of Zoloft. It was full with 200mg pills. It was made out to her mother, "What the?" Suddenly an idea popped into her head. She could end all this pain and so easily. All she had to do was down the bottle of pills. She would never have to deal with Anna, Sam or AJ ever again. Never again would she have to deal with those cruel people at school. She could be alone and free and safe from all the pain circling around her.

Yes she would be taking the easy way out – but she didn't care anymore, she just wanted it to stop. For once in her life Tracy stopped thinking about the people around her, for this brief moment she didn't care about the pain her parents and family would face – she just wanted it all to end.

"Should I?" Hesitantly she opened the bottle. "I want to end this pain – now."

Slowly she swallowed the first few pills but in time she was downing them easily. In no time the bottle was empty. Still grasping the bottle she made her way outside – to die with her favorite object in the world. Her face was clear of tears, she did not regret what was about to happen to her.

"My tree, we've been through a lot haven't we my friend?" Sitting at the tree's base she let her eyes close. In a few hours her breathing slowed showing that she was in a deep sleep. The pills had not killed her but pushed her into a coma instead.

When her parents arrived home they would find their daughter missing; only an empty pill bottle in her place at the base of the tree.

**End of Chapter 1**

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. I had been busy with school and life so now I am posting this I hope to have chapter 2 up soon so not as long as the wait for this chapter (at least I hope not. Well any ways thanks for reading the story and please leave a Review it will be appreciated

potterfan2006


	3. Chapter 2

Note: See disclaimer in chapter 1 and I would like to think Jessi (krillball6) for all her hard work and ideas for this chapter…I would like to thank **loveitachi**, **krillball6**, **Riker 15**, **Siliel** and **xmutedx **for the reviews they were very helpful. Pleas read and review…now on to the story

**Chapter 2**

Lord Elrond of Rivendell was walking through his privet garden just outside of the last homely house. He was attempting to have some alone time until his sons came home from their outing. His sons would also be bringing home some guests for the year,

Haldir was visiting Legolas during some time off that he had from his duties from Lothlorien. However Legolas was going to be coming back with the twins for the year so it was decided by all parties involved that they would all come to Rivendell. It was, after all, a haven and that is what they needed - a vacation. Little did Elrond know was that someone else would be staying with him as well.

Elrond was just about to go back into the house when he walked by the great oak tree in his garden. At first he walked right by it but something caught his eye. He turned around and walked back.

Once he reached the tree he was startled to find a woman from the race of men under the tree. He wondered were she had come from. He bent down to try and wake her up but he could not. Then the healer side of him took over. He checked her pulse and found that it was racing and that her breathing was rapid and shallow. So he swiftly picked her up into his arms and carried her to the Healing rooms.

Once he reached the Healing rooms he laid her gently down on the bed and tried to find out why she was not waking. A few hours later he had given up on trying to find out why she wouldn't wake up. He could not find any visible injuries on her so he just did the only thing that he could do. He looked up to the heavens and closed his eyes, sending a prayer to the Valar for this young woman's recovery.

**Two hours later…**

Four dirty and weary travelers entered the front doors of the last homely house in Rivendell and were startled to find that no one was there to greet them.

Elladan turned to his brother Elrohir and asked, "Ro where do you think Adar is? I would have thought that he would have been waiting for us to return." Elrohir just turned to his bother and responded sarcastically, "I don't know Dan maybe he is hiding from us…" He was going to say more when he saw Glorfindel walking towards them from Elrond's study.

Once Glorfindel reached them he took in the group's appearance. They all appeared to be tired and dusty from the road but he was pleased to note that they did not appear to have any Injures. He thought to himself, 'Elrond will be pleased to not have to patch any of them up. He has enough to deal with already.' To the group he said, "I am sorry that Elrond could not be here to greet you, he had some unexpected business to attend to." With that statement said the twins gave Glorfindel a look that could rival any look that their father could give.

Then Elladan spoke up, "Where is our Adar Glorfindel? Ro and I wish to speak to him."

**In the Healing room….**

Elrond was still sitting next to the bed that the strange girl was occupying and was wondering once again were she came from. The cloths were not something that he recognized. Then a thought struck him, 'She could not only be from another place but also a time far into the future that I cannot see.

Elrond was still on that thought when the girl in the bed started to stir. The fist thing that registered in Tracy 's hazy mind was that she was lying on a nice soft and warm bed. She then opened her eyes and was assaulted by bright white light. She closed her eyes right away. Elrond when he noticed this action got up swiftly to close the drapes to be easier on the young girls' eyes.

Once that was accomplished he walked back over to the bed and said, "My lady you can open your eyes now, the light has been dimmed." Tracey was confused because she recognized that voice. She could recognize it anywhere. The voice belonged to Lord Elrond of Rivendell. Tracy thought, 'How can this be? He is just some made-up character in books and in movies.

However when she opened her eyes she was startled to find the face of Elrond smiling down at her. Tracy was scared out of her mind. She sat up quickly and before Elrond could stop her she was up out of bed and turning to run.

She did not get far however when her knees buckled. She would have hit the ground if it had not been for Elrond's finely tuned reflexes. He reached out for her and caught her in his arms. She was livid and started yelling, "Let me go! You..you!" She could not figure out what to call him for she was startled when she heard many sets of feet running up nearby stairs.

She turned and was ready to bolt from the room when she ran smack into a solid body. When she looked up to see whom that it was she had ran into, she saw is was Prince Legolas of Mirkwood. She knew that she was loosing it. She backed up and tripped over something but that did not stop her. Scooting herself back into a corner she hugged her legs to her chest and started to rock back and forth.

The entire population of elves in the room followed her with their eyes and watched as she pressed herself into a corner as she tired not to be seen.

Tracy was truly freaked, out how could all of these characters from the stories that she loved so much be here with her?

She sat that way for what must have been like ten minutes just trying to figure out why she was seeing this. The last thing that she remembers doing before she woke up in Rivendell (well she assumed it was Rivendell given Elrond's presence) was taking the entire prescription of her mothers Zoloft. Then she walked out to her favorite oak tree in her back yard to die…To escape from her pain.

As she remembered this she felt the bile rising in the back of her throat, she tried valiantly to stop it but she could not. She slapped her hand over her mouth and got up quickly that however did no good for her, it only made her sicker. She staggered forward to try to get to some place where she could be sick but she stumbled again. Ever the healer Elrond sensed that the girl was going to be sick so he rushed forward quickly and placed a bowl under her mouth just before she lost what little she had in her stomach until she was down to just dry heaving.

Once that had subsided she hit her knees again. Tracy was just plain wiped out. Elrond knew that this girl was tired and needed rest for she had had an exciting day. Elrond shooed everyone but his twin sons out of the room quickly saying, "I will explain more later once I know more." The others shook their head in understanding and walked out.

Elrond then turned to his sons and said, "Welcome home. I am glad that you all are in once piece." They just chuckled and said, "Yes Adar it seems you have had some fun here too." They then all turned to the girl that was just sitting on the floor with her back to the wall again and observed her.

She appeared to be sleeping she however was not. Tracy opened her eyes and stared at the three elves in the room. Elrond then walked over to her to help her stand up and got her over to a bed and sat her down on it. He put his hand to her head to check for a fever and was not surprised to find a small one burring within her. He decided that the introductions could wait right now she needed rest and rest was what she did under the ever watchful eye of Elrond.

**End of Chapter 2 **

**Translations**

**Adar/Ada -** Father/Daddy

**Valar- **God


	4. Chapter 3

**Note:** I do not own the lord of the Rings story I am just using them for fun. I would like to thank my Beta Jessi (krillball6) for all her hard work on this story. I would next like to next thank all of the people that left review and that have added me to all of there Author alert lists and other lists with out you guys this story would not be possible so thanks. As always read and enjoy and please leave a review I love those very much. They keep me writing. Now on to the story!

**Chapter 3**

Tracey had been in Rivendell now for a week and she had regained much of her former strength. The drugs that she had taken had finally worked its way out of her system yet she was still not talking.

As a matter of fact she only talked once - when she told Elrond her name at the beginning of the week. He asked her other questions about her life and that was when she stopped talking. This worried Elrond to no end because he knew that she needed to talk.

Elrond knew that Tracey had been suffering from nightmares because he was woken one night when he heard an anguished cry coming from the family healing rooms just down the hall from his bedroom. He had then jumped out of bed and into his robe and slippers and ran to the Healing room in time to hear Tracy wake up and start crying in earnest. After he tried to get Tracey to talk to him about what had happened but he could not get her to talk. She them climbed back into bed and he left the room.

That following day Elrond got his family and friends together to talk about what they could do to get Tracey to open up so they could help her and to help Tracy heal more fully. It was obvious to everyone present in the room that there was more to Tracey then she was letting on so that was when Elladan piped up and suggested that Tracey be moved to her own chambers so she could have a little more privacy. Maybe then she would feel like talking. That was almost a week ago and now Elrond was heading back to the healing rooms to check up on Tracey and to take her new room.

When Elrond walked into the room he was not at all surprised to find Tracey standing out on the Veranda looking at the scenery that made up Rivendell's beautiful landscape. In all reality Tracy was not seeing the landscape instead she was lost in her own thoughts. She was thinking about how bad all of her now ex-friends had treated her and that she did not deserve to be happy. Tracey was startled from her thoughts when she felt another presence out on the veranda with her. She turned slightly and was not surprised to see Elrond there with her. He had tried to get her to talk to him all week but she could not say anything, she could not speak of all the horrible things that she had been though. She could not burden another with her pain.

Elrond approached her and said "My lady would you like to get out of here now and get settled in your own room in my house?" Tracy nodded her head yes then Elrond motioned for her to follow him. He led her out of the healing room and pointed to the left side of the hallway in front of him. Saying, "These are my sons and my rooms." He pointed to a door on the right side of her and said, "That is my office, you can usually find me there after lunch and after dinner if you want to talk - my duties permitting of course."

They then walked a little ways down the hall. Elrond then pointed to a door just on the left just after a painting of a white horse and rider saying, "That is the library. It is open to all in the house. Feel free to go in there and look around and enjoy." At that Tracey perked up a little because she absolutely love to read. Elrond then continued "If you need to talk and cannot find me in my office I am sometimes in the library reading or just relaxing after a long day of work."

Tracey noticed that he said the words "if you wanted to talk" a lot. She knew she should talk to him for Elrond could possibly help her. Before she had a chance to think much more then that, they were moving again. They passed a painting of two elves sitting under a big oak tree when they stopped again in front of a big oak door. She looked behind her and realized that it was a long corridor that they had passed though but she could still see all the rooms that Elrond had told her about, for that she was grateful.

Elrond then brought her out of her musings when he spoke, "And this is your room were you will be staying in for as long as you are here." Elrond opened the door and motioned for her to go into the room and he followed her and shut the door behind them both.

To say that Tracey was speechless was an understatement, she was downright floored. The room was HUGE! It was a cream colored room with forest green and heather gray accents on the walls. The room had what appeared to be a king size bed right in the middle of the back wall in the room. It was covered in a plush heather gray comforter and a fare amount of pillows that looked really, really soft.

She headed for the bed and sat on it, she was right - the bed was so soft! It felt like she was sitting on a cloud and the pillows she had never felt something as soft as those before. She knew that she would have no problem sleeping.

She continued to look around the room and then noticed that there was an intricately hand carved wooden desk lightly varnished to give it a nice glossy oak finish across from the bed. She then saw that there was another door on the far wall that she assumed led to the bathroom. She was momentarily stunned when she noticed a door was left open on wardrobe in the corner next to the balcony door. She walked over to it to close it when she noticed that if was full of beautiful dresses and some tunics and leggings. She then noticed her jeans and the shirt that she arrived in had been cleaned and hung up next to the other cloths. She noticed how much they stood out next to the other outfits but she was, after all from a different place and time.

The whole time that Tracey was exploring the room Elrond was watching her every move. He could tell that she was stunned. He wished that she would tell him what she was thinking about everything, then he noticed that she was looking at the wardrobe. He walked over to her and spoke." Since you did not have any other cloths with you when you came I took the liberty of having some made up for you and had your other cloths cleaned and pressed."

Tracey was stunned again. He had all of these made for her. Those were hers; she inhaled sharply when she realized what they were made out of. All of the dresses were made out of the finest silks, satin and lace and the tunics and leggings were made out of a heavier fabric that she could not even put a name too. She figured it would be like denim fabric to them. She turned to Elrond smiling and said, "Thank you."

Elrond was happy that she had spoken even if it was two simple words. He bowed his head some and replied, "Your quite welcome my lady. I will leave you now so you can get some rest and change for dinner. I will be up to get you again in two hours." Elrond then turned and left, leaving Tracey to her thoughts.

She walked back over to the bed and noticed that she had not noticed before sitting right under her bed was her bag. She picked it up and noticed that it had her diary, her solar powered music player and a few other things that she needed in it. She wondered where it had come from when she realized that she had it on when she walked out to the tree in her backyard to die. She was so relieved to have some of her stuff from home. So she put on her music player and laid down on the bed to get some rest before she had to get up and ready for dinner. She sat her watch to go off in an hour and that would leave her an hour to get dressed and do her hair for dinner. She closed her eyes and feel into a peaceful sleep.

**End of Chapter 3**


	5. Chapter 4

**Note:** I do not own the lord of the Rings story I am just using them for fun. I would like to thank my Beta Jessi (krillball6) for all her hard work on this story. I would next like to next thank all of the people that left review and that have added me to all of there Author alert lists and other lists with out you guys this story would not be possible so thanks. As always read and enjoy and please leave a review I love those very much. They keep me writing. Now on to the story!

**Chapter 4**

Tracy was woken from her sleep with a steady beep beep from her watch. She could not believe that she had slept for an hour already. She climbed out of her soft bed and walked over to the wardrobe and opened the doors. She looked at all of the pretty dresses that were hers. She could still not believe that they were made for her. She wanted to look pretty for dinner she found the dress that she wanted to wear; it was a pale-blue Satan dress. She walked over to the vanity that was in the right hand corner of the room next to the desk. She sat down at the vanity and took in her appearance - she still looked tired but she felt much better after her short nap.

She stood up and pulled the shirt that she was wearing off of her head and then bent down to remover her pants. She then very slowly pulled on the blue dress. Once she had the dress on she looked at herself in the mirror. The dress that she was wearing was a floor length gown that came up to just above her feet so she would not trip. The top of the dress had a small V in the top of the neck and it had bell sleeves from the elbow down. The dress was very comfortable but she realized that the only shoes that she had were her cross trainers that she wore when she first arrived in middle earth.

She was about to take the dress off and just put on her jeans and a nice tunic when she hard a soft knock on her door. She walled over to the door and opened it. When she looked out no one was there. She shrugged her shoulders and was about to go back into the room to change when she noticed a white box was sitting on the floor. She reached down to pick it up and noticed that it was rather heavy. She carried the box back into her room and sat it down on the bed. She took the lid off and the first thing that she noticed was a peace of parchment sitting on top it. She soon realized it was a letter from Lord Elrond. It read:

_Dear Tracey,_

_I hope that you had a nice nap. I noticed that when you were looking at the dresses, the shoes that I had ordered for you as well were not there. So I went to find out where they were. They were not done until this morning so I hope that you like them. I will see you in about a half-hour._

_Yours truly,  
Elrond_

Tracey was speechless again she pulled the paper off of the box and noticed all the pretty shoes and for what felt like the hundredth time today she felt speechless. She walked over to the wardrobe and put the shoebox at the bottom and picked out a nice pair of blue flat healed shoes.

Tracey stood up with the shoes in hand and walked back over to the vanity. She picked up the brush and started to brush out her blond hair. After that was accomplished she put the brush down and looked at herself in the mirror again. She knew that she should put

Her hair up but she did not know what to do with her hair. She picked up her brush again and pulled her hair that was now down to almost the small of her back into a high ponytail and then French braided her hair. She secured it with a light blue ribbon at the end. She then next applied a thing layer of makeup on her face. Once that was done she sat back and admired her handy work. She was happy with the way she looked and all she had to do was wait for Elrond to come get her.

While she was waiting for Elrond to arrive she walked over to the veranda so she could get a feel for her new shoes. She was surprised to find that the shoes were very comfortable and that they did not hurt her feet at all. She was looking out to the veranda again when she heard a light knock on the door. She turned and bade whoever was at the door to enter.

Elrond walked into the room and noticed that Tracey was looking out over the scenery again. He was worried for a little bit. He walked over to Tracy and lent against the railing with her.

He looked over to Tracey and just observed her. She looked tired despite the nap and had a slight hunch in her shoulders like she was weighed down by something. He wished that she would talk to him. Elrond knew that they had to get going so he said, "My lady we need to get going or we will be late for dinner." This startled Tracey out of her thoughts again. She really needed to stop letting her mind wander.

She turned to Elrond and said, "Ok, let's go." Elrond extended his arm and Tracey took it. Elrond finally had to opportunity to look at what Tracey was wearing she looked beautiful. He especially liked the way she had her hair. He needed to ask her how she had done that.

He smiled at her and said, "You look very beautiful my lady."

Tracy blushed and said, "Thank you" Elrond smiled back and he lead Tracy out of the room.

They walked down the hall in silence so Elrond decided to tell Tracy what to expect that evening after dinner. "My lady after dinner we will be dancing." At this Tracy tensed up, Elrond was surprised at this. He stopped mid stride. He wondered why Tracy had tensed up so he asked, "My Lady are you all right? What happened?" Tracy wondered how could she tell Elrond that she was afraid to dance because of what happened to her during her Sr. Prom in High School. She knew that that he deserved to know but she kept her mouth shut. Elrond knew that something was wrong when she tensed up but she would not talk so he would give it time. They then started to walk again to the dinning hall. Once they reached their destination Elrond opened the door for Tracey

Once the doors were opened Tracey got a good look inside. The room was spacious with what looked like leaf prints all over the walls. There were three doors in the room, one of which Elrond and Tracy were standing in. Then another, which led to the kitchens and the third, was leading out to the garden. In the middle of the room sat a huge wooden table and sat at that table were three blond elves and three dark hair elves.

Elrond walked Tracy to the table and introduced her to everyone. "The twin elves are my sons Elladan and Elrohir." He said pointing to the twins. "The elf stetting next to him is Prince Legolas of Mirkwood" Tracey locked eyes with Legolas and smiled. Then Elrond continued, "The blond elf sitting across from Legolas is Haldir the March warden of Lothlorien" Haldir bowed his head slightly in greeting, "And the dark headed on sitting next to him is my advisor Erestor. Next to him is sitting Glorfindel the chef of my border patrol." After all the introductions were made Elrond preceded to help Tracy to her seat next to Legolas then took his seat at the head of the table. Then dinner was served.

While they were eating there was much talking going on and it reminded Tracey of the time she and a group of friends were eating before her Sr. Prom in High School.

**Flashback  
**

Tracy and her friends Anna, AJ and John were all sitting eating dinner before their Sr. Prom at the high school. Tracy was dressed in an off white sleeveless dress with a white beaded Shaw. While her friend Anna was dressed in a pale pink strapless dress. Anna's date for the night was John, Tracy's friend from school. Tracey's date was AJ, they had been dating for a little over ten months at that time. They were all laughing and having a good time until their food arrived and they dug in. Half way though the meal Anna put down her fork and looked at Tracy saying with her eyes 'come with me' so the girls excused themselves from the table and headed to the restroom. Once there Tracey and Anna did their business but then Anna started talking, " Tracy there is something that you should know." Anna did not wait for Tracy to respond before continuing, "AJ is going to dump you soon. He does not like you. The reason that he is dating you is because he feels sorry for you because of your self-esteem issues." Tracy could not believe what Anna had just said to her. She was speechless. After that nothing more was said and the dinner was finished in silence.

**End Flashback**

Anna was right, exactly one and a half months later AJ had broken up with Tracy because of the whole puking incident. Elrond looked up from his meal and was going to try to talk to Tracy when he noticed that she had stopped eating and started crying. Elrond was really worried about Tracy now, 'What could be wrong?' He wondered.

Tracey was so lost in her own thoughts that she did not realize that everyone including Elrond was looking at her in concern. She then started to feel eyes on her and noticed that Elrond was looking at her. She locked eyes with him and realized that he was worried about her. For that matter she could see that everyone was worried about her but she couldn't see why they would care about her. She then felt the overwhelming need to run. Tracey hurriedly excused her self from the table and ran to the nearest exit, which happened to be the exit to the garden. She ran straight to the big oak tree in the center.

Meanwhile Elrond and the others watched as Tracey run out of the room. Elladan turned to his father and asked, "Adar what is wrong with Tracey?"

Elrond responded, "I know not Ion nin but I intend to find out." With that said Elrond got up to follow Tracey. He walked out the door and stopped for a minute to see if he could spot her but he could not. However his eleven hearing picked up the faint sounds of sobbing coming from somewhere over to his left. So he followed the sound and found Tracey sitting under the same Oak tree that he found her under when she first arrived there. The only difference now was the fact she was sitting with her knees up to her chest and she had her arms around her knees with her head face down in her knees while she was rocking back and forth.

Elrond walked over to Tracy and bent down so he could be eye level with her. He reached over with a steady hand and slowly lifted her chin off her knees so they could look eye to eye. When she looked at him Elrond noticed that she had tear tracks down her face. His heart instantly went out to her. She looked so distraught and he wanted to help her so bad. He said, "Tracey please tell me what is bothering you. I could help if you just let me." Elrond expected her to shake her head no but he was surprised when Tracey spoke

"I want to tell you so bad but it's too hard for me to say. It just hurts!" She practically screamed. Elrond just sat there stunned. There was so much emotion behind her words that it was almost frightening that someone so young could feel so much.

He then said, "Why don't you tell me what happened at dinner?" After Elrond had said that, Tracey's cheeks had turned a little pink with embarrassment. She felt a little stupid for having run out like that.

"I am so sorry for running out like I did." Whispered Tracey while wiping tears from her eyes. "You all must think I am terrible. I must have ruined your dinner."

Elrond shook his head and responded, "No Tracey you did not ruin our dinner. We are all just worried about you."

Tracey knew then that it was time to talk she at least owed him that much. She looked at Elrond and spoke "I am going to tell you what happened at diner but please don't interrupt me for I feat that I may not continue if I am stopped." Elrond nodded in understanding. And Tracy began her story of what happened at dinner.

**Ten minutes later…**

"So you see the reason that I ran is because the whole dinner thing reminded me of how prom night felt at dinner and I could not stand it. I was scared, so I ran." Tracy then dropped her head in shame after she was done talking.

Elrond and Tracey just sat there in silence each enjoying the others companies. They sat like that lost in their own thoughts when Elrond began to speak "Tracey thank you for letting me in on what you were feeling." He looked over towards Tracey and noticed that she was rubbing her temple. He asked, "Does your head hurt my lady?"

Tracey responded, "Yeah a little plus the fact that I am starting to feel tired as well this whole thing just wore me out." At that Elrond chuckled a little bit and got up. He then extended a hand to help Tracey up and she took it and stood up herself.

Once they were both on their feet Elrond said, "Come let's get you inside and too your room so I can get you something for you and then you can go to sleep."

So they walked back to the house and to Tracey's room. Elrond then excused himself to get Tracey something for her head. Once Elrond was out of the room she changed out of her dress and into a light purple sleep tunic and leggings and crawled into bed. Moments later Elrond returned with a steaming cup and handed it to Tracey saying, "Drink it all and get some sleep. We will talk more in the morning." Elrond then got up and walked out the door after saying, "Good night" Then Tracey fell into a peaceful slumber wondering what could happen tomorrow.

**End of chapter 4**

**Translations**

Adar/Ada- Father/Daddy

Ion nin- My Son


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes:** See Notes from pervious chapters for disclaimer. As always I would like to think Jessi (krillball6) for her work on this and all of my stories. I would like to say thank you to my mother for helping me with this chapter and I look forward to working with her on the chapters to come. Finally I would like to thank all of you who have read my story and all of you who have read and left a review for my story…On to the story!

**Chapter 5**

The day dawned bright and early over the last homely house of Rivendell. Way too early for Elrond's taste but he got up anyway. Today was the day that he was going to sit Tracey down to talk more. She needed to talk and he knew it. He got dressed slowly and hoped that Tracey was up and dressed when he arrived at her room. Unbeknownst to him a storm was brewing right down the hall.

Tracey was indeed awake and dressed but she was not in a good mood at all. She had been here for nearly three weeks with noting to do. This fantasy that she has been living in was getting old. She wanted more she wanted to be more. She needed to do something she was going crazy. She was about to walk out of her room when she walked straight into Elrond. She fell on her butt she then got up and dusted herself off but after that she was positively livid, "You get out of my way elf!"

Elrond was shocked at the attitude towards him so he asked, "Tracey what is the matter?"

Tracey did not dignify that question with an answer she just huffed and stormed right past him out into the hallway. Elrond turned and attempted to follow her but a hand stooped him. It was Tracey she shoved him away. Elrond finally got the hint and let Tracey go.

Tracey headed out of the house and into the garden once again she wanted to be alone she had so much on her mind it wasn't even funny. She had the dream again the one were she was running from what or to where she did not know. She made her way over to the great oak tree that had become her friend. She sat under it and fell asleep and started to dream.

**Dream**

Tracey was running though a very old forest, running as if her life depended on it.

She usually found comfort in the trees but these trees were threatening. She glanced back to see if she was still being followed. She could not see anyone but she could sense a cold presence surrounding her, pressing in on her as if to strangle her.

She then heard voices sounding very far away at first then they got closer and closer. She realized with a start that they were taunting her. Saying tings like "Your worthless", "No one cares about you", "Your ugly no one will ever love a hag like yourself" The voices just kept taunting her making fun of her. She could not get them to stop. So she ran faster and attempted in vain to get away from them - she couldn't.

She finally reached a clearing and stopped suddenly in front of an old graveyard. She looked at it and fell to her knees. What she saw was a small cluster of stones with names of people that she once cared about. Some of them were her grandfather from her dad's side of the family then her grandfather and grandmother form her mother's side. She also saw AJ there.

That one felt wrong to her, how could he be gone? The last time that she saw him was before she came to middle earth and started this knew life. She got up on unsteady legs and walked over to his stone and started to hit it with her hand until the cold stone bit into the palm of her hand drawing blood. She drew her hand back and looked at the palm and saw a word written on her hand. "Murderer" She screamed in fear but try as she might the word would not disappear. Then she heard it. All of her family was laughing at her and almost in an eerie chant was saying "Murderer murderer" she then let out a blood-curdling scream…

**Dream Ends**

Tracey sat up suddenly still screaming and could not stop. Then she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders. She was scared out of her mind. She jumped and turned around to find the twin sons of Elrond standing behind her. She started to back up and ran into prince Legolas of Mirkwood. She felt closed in. They all walked over to her and Elladan asked, "Tracey are you alright? Legolas, Elrohir and I were heading out to the archery field and we heard screaming. So we ran over here and found you. What was going on?"

Tracey was not ready to talk about it. The memory was still to painful for her to recall so she instead asked, "Could I come with you guys to the archery fields? I could use the practice again." The three elves agreed and headed out again to the archery fields. Unbeknownst to them, the eyes of Elrond where following them as they walked out of the garden.

Elrond having left Tracey's room headed back to his office to get some work done, though he could not concentrate on his work. He had too much on his mind. Tracey's behavior in the morning was disconcerting to say the least. She acted as if she was irritated but he could not figure out how she got so irritated.

Ok well he could she had been cooped up in the house for a few weeks now with noting to do. So he figured that he could give her something to do to help occupy her mind and her time.

He was thinking about what she could do when he heard a scream coming from his garden so he got up out of his chair almost knocking it over in the process. He ran over to his balcony and practically flung himself to the railing in his haste. He looked down in time to see Tracey backing away from his sons and backing straight into Legolas. He then saw her jump a mile and then back away again. He then watches on as his oldest son Elladan approaches Tracey again and started to ask her if she was ok.

The answer was too soft for him to hear from that distance. However he saw her head shaking a little bit and he knew that she was saying nothing was wrong. He would have to talk to her about telling the truth because they really were there to help. He then heard her ask if she could join them in the Archery fields and they agreed so they all walked out of the garden together.

Elrond then knew what it was that she could do to occupy her mind she could take archery lessons from his sons and Legolas. He walked away from the balcony and headed over to the wardrobe in the corner of his office and pulled out his very fist long bow and a quiver full of arrows with the colors of Rivendell imbedded in the shafts. They were a gift from his father and he was going to give them to Tracey.

**Meanwhile…**

The group had arrived at the archery fields and they had all taken up their positions. Legolas took his first shot and it hit the target dead center. He smiled.

The twins knew that it was their turn next so they each assumed a standard fighting pose and released their arrows sequentially, both finding their mark and splitting Legoles's arrow down the middle. They both smiled triumphantly and in a little fit of juvenility stuck their tongues out and blew raspberries at Legolas.

Legolas just huffed indignantly and Tracey let out a small snort of laughter. The three elf's then turned to Tracey and Elladan said, "Ok little missy, since you find this so funny show us what you've got."

Tracey took Legolas's bow from his hands and closed her eyes trying to remember what she was taught in girl scouts on how to shoot an arrow. She opened her eyes and shot the first arrow. It flew to the left of the target, missing it by a mile. She expected to get laughed at but she heard nothing. Then she tried a different strategy.

She remembered watching Princess Diaries 2 and Lord Nicholas had helped Mia shoot the arrow. She did not think that it would work but she tried it any way.

This time before she let go she dropped her back elbow a little and touched her mouth with her hand and used it as a guide for the arrow. This time when she released the arrow it at least hit the target but not in the middle - that would take considerably more practice.

She stood back and then looked over her shoulder to see the shocked faces of Elladan, Elrohir and Legolas.

Then Elrohir spoke up, "My Lady how?"

Tracey laughed, "Just a trick I remembered." She shrugged her shoulders. "Its no big deal I just pictured your faces and I shot at them." She heard a shocked gasp behind her and started to laugh really hard. "Oh get over yourselves that's not what I did. I just remembered my lessons from girl scouts…jeesh."

She then noticed a confused look on their faces and she asked, "What's wrong now?"

"Tracey what's girl scouts?" This came from Elrohir.

Tracey smacked her head, of course they did not know what girl scouts was. 'How best to explain this too them?' She thought.

The only way that she could figure out how to describe the girl scouts was compare to something that they already know about. "The girl scouts," Tracey said, "Are like the Dunedin rangers. Yet in a way they are not. They are a group of girls that are taught survival skills and some basic fighting skills but mostly as of late the girl scouts have focused heavily on making the perfect house wife." She said with disdain in her voice.

The elves nodded in understanding but really did not grasp the concept but decided not to push her more because obviously it disturbed her to talk about it. Just then they all heard the bell for lunch and they all headed back to the house to eat, not knowing what the rest of the day held for them.

**End of chapter 5**


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes:** See Notes from pervious chapters for disclaimer. As always I would like to think my beta but this time her name is Ruth (Lady Akyrial) for her work on this chapter and I look forward to working on this story with her and Jessi (krillball6) good luck with school. I would like to say thank you to my mother for helping me with this chapter and I look forward to working with her on the chapters to come. Finally I would like to thank all of you who have read my story and all of you who have read and left a review for my story…On to the story!

**Chapter 6**

Elladan, Elrohir, Legolas and Tracey walked into the dining room to find everyone already seated; except Haldir…The day before, he received an urgent message from the Lord and Lady of Lothlorien ordering him to return immediately, thus, he left earlier that morning. Tracy took her seat and she peeked over to Elrond. She felt so bad for the way that she treated him that morning…she knew that he did not deserve it and she was hoping to be able to apologize to him alone when she got the chance.

As the food was being served, Tracey realized that she was hungry. She had not eaten since she gotten up that morning. She looked at the beautiful spread in front of her. They were having homemade chicken noodle soup and what looked like ham sandwiches and the drink was fresh lemonade. It smelt wonderful but it was making her kind of sad. This was the type of meal that Tracey and her family used to have after church on Sunday's.

The longer she spent in Rivendell, the more she realized that she missed her home and her family. Even though she was hurting in her world, she could not help but wonder what and how her family was doing, and she wished dearly to see them once again…but she knew that it was not possible for that to happen.

Elrond had looked up from his meal and noticed that Tracey was off in her own little world again. He called her name trying to get her attention so he could ask her what was the matter but she did not answer him. Elrond was really worried by now. He raised his voice slightly and called her name one more time this time. Tracey raised her head and a look of confusion came over her face

Tracey had not realized that she had stopped eating and drifted off into her own thoughts until she heard someone call her name. She turned her head and saw that it was Elrond that had called her name and he had a look of deep concern on his face. Elrond reached his hand out and asked gently, "Would you do me a great honor and walk with me?" He took her hand and then led her gracefully out of the dining hall to his study so that they could talk and so he could give her his gift.

Tracey was surprised and confused as she followed Elrond out of the dining hall. She nervously wondered what was going to happen. Would she get yelled at because of the way that she had treated him this morning. She also wondered why he was being so nice to her.

Tracey braced for what was to come when they entered his study; but she was surprised she and Elrond sat down and he gave her a chance to talk. Taking a deep breath, she began, "Elrond… I am sorry for the way that I acted this morning. I was not myself and I apologize for my rude behavior."

Elrond leaned forward in his chair and took Tracey's hand. "Indeed, you have nothing to apologize for. I understand the need to express one's pain. I feel that you are tired of just sitting around and you need something to do."

Tracey was stunned. 'He's not mad at me,' she thought 'how could that be?' She looked up and noticed that Elrond was no longer sitting in his chair. Instead, he was walking back from what looked like a wardrobe cabinet carrying a long delicately hand carved wooden box that he gently sat in her lap. For the longest time she just stared at it. As she stared at it, she attempted to memorize every detail of the beauty which she held. She saw intertwined vines and small leaves of delicate green adorning the lid which reminded her of the ivy that was growing around her favorite tree in her backyard.

She slowly brought her hand forward and touched the slightly cool and smooth wood finding a small mithril clasp. Carefully, she opened the box to reveal what was lying inside. She noticed royal blue velvet lining inside and the same type of cloth was draped over what was contained in the box. The whole time she was remembering one of her best birthdays in her not so distant past.

**Flashback**

Tracey was turning 16 and she was incredibly sad. All of her friends that she had invited to share her sweet 16 with her had stood her up. She could not understand why, if they were her friends, that they would do that to her. She was in her room crying when her daddy walked in and sat on her bed. He put his hand on her back and rubbed it gently until she calmed down. He then said. "I am sorry that your friends stood you up on your birthday… but you still have us. We are your family and we want you to come down stairs. We would like to take you out to dinner and because you are the guest of honor, you get to choose where we go.

Tracey got up and decided that she wanted to go to an Italian restaurant. So she walked down the stairs and standing around the dining room table were her older sister, her mother and father. On the table there was birthday cake with 16 candles and a small black velvet box and a large Flat present. Her mother told her to blow out her candles and make a wish. Tracey took a deep breath and blew the candles were out quickly. Her father then handed her the small box and she opened it to reveal her class ring.

She took in a deep breath because she knew that her mom and dad could not afford something like this at the time… but they got it for her anyway. She gave her family a hug. Then she opened her sister's gift for it was her very own cardboard elf. She laughed at the irony for she had one friend at her birthday party after all.

**End Flashback**

Tracy, having been lost in the memory, found herself chuckling because at that moment she was sitting with the actual elf that was her Cardboard friend back at home. Her laughing startled Elrond. The whole time she had been with him and his family she had been in a melancholy mood.

The laughter, he thought, suited her well. Pleased to see her smile, he wanted to know what had caused her to laugh. "Tracey, what amuses you so dearly?" he asked in his rich voice.

"I am just remembering something from my old life." She responded peacefully.

Elrond's curiosity was peaked, "Would you care to share it with me?"

Tracy pondered his request…she thought to herself, 'I am not ready to tell this guy that I have a life-sized cardboard picture of him in my old life.' To him she responded, "It truly is no consequence…something from my old life that gives me comfort. " Elrond still wanted her to tell him, but he knew that it was better not to push certain things with her...so he decided to redirect her back to the box.

Gently, he put his hand on top of the cloth and softly pulled it back revealing a bow and arrow set made of the finest polished wood. He hard her gasp in shock and he said, "This was my first bow given to me by my father and I would like you to have it. I feel that you should have something appropriate to train with when you are with my sons and Legolas.

Tracey felt a smile creep back on to her face because of his generosity, but she said, "Thank you my lord but I cannot accept this gift. I truly appreciate your generosity, but your father gave this to you. I would not feel comfortable with anything of such great sentimental value."

Elrond listed to her polite refusal, but he really wanted her to have it for many reasons. "Yes, penneth, he did give it to me…but it was his hope that one day I would give it to someone that really I care about… and that person is you." Tracey flushed at the intensity of his statement, then smiled as she accepted the gift and took it from his hands. She held it close to her and felt his emotions so close to hers. She felt his nearness, and felt something stirring within her body.

At this point Elrond was leaning so close to her that he could feel her breath on his skin and he wanted to kiss her. He looked into Tracey's eyes and saw that she wanted to kiss him as well. They leaned in close but just as they were about to kiss the moment was shattered by a knock on the door.

Elrond was irritated with the interruption, but he bid "Enter" to his sons and Legolas. As they walked into the room, Elladan spoke, "We are sorry to disturb you Ada, but we were wondering if Tracey would like to join us again on the archery field for some more practice." Elrond looked at Tracey and she shook her head yes. As she stood up with her gift, she tuned to him and said, "Thank you for your kind gift I will cherish it always. Would you do me the honor of introducing me to such a fine weapon this afternoon?"

Elrond smiled and accepted the offer, putting his thoughts on hold after the promise of a wonderful afternoon with his family and guests.

**End of Chapter 6**

**Translations**

**Ada/Adar-** Dad/Father


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes:** See Notes from pervious chapters for disclaimer. As always I would like to think my beta but this time her name is Ruth (Lady Akyrial) for her work on this chapter and I look forward to working on this story with her. I would like to say thank you to my mother for helping me with this chapter and I look forward to working with her on the chapters to come. i would like to note here that yes what will happen in the story between Legolas and Tracey could be done by Elrond but this is my story and i want it to happen like i wrote it so please dont complain i put alot of thought into the chapter and in to the whole story for a matter of fact so please enjoy this story like i do and know that i have my reasons for what i write in the story. Finally I would like to thank all of you who have read my story and all of you who have read and left a review for my story…On to the story!

**Chapter 7**

Tracey had been training for the past 2 weeks under Elrond, his sons, and their close friend Legolas. With repeated practice, she was steadily improving with the bow and developing significant upper body strength. Though she was not nearly as proficient as her teachers, nor would she be for a long time, Elrond assured her that she was learning quickly and showing tremendous progress from when she first started.

However her last lesson of the day did not go as planned. Elrond, with controlled curiosity and pride, had decided once again to join the group on the practice field to observe Tracey's progress. He was pleasantly surprised to see that her stance and posture were both improving. He attributed this to the fact that she had finally become comfortable with the weapon's weight and draw.

Tracey noted the Elrond came down to the field and was observing her from the sidelines. She nocked an arrow and aimed for the practice target like Elrond had taught her… and as she steadied her breath, she felt a sneeze begin to tickle her nose and throat. Trying hard to ignore it, she focused on the steps that Elrond had taught her to release the tension in the bow. She was just about to let it fly when the sneeze erupted. In shock, she heard the whoosh of an arrow and then a yelp of surprise come from the edge of the field. Not daring to look, but knowing that she must, she peeked to see what damage her sneeze had wrought. When she looked to the side of the field, she thankfully saw that Elrond had sought cover behind a tree. She noticed that the arrow had impacted the tree in front of him. Had he been standing in front of the tree he would have had an arrow lodge in his shoulder.

As she thought about what had happened, Tracey became very self conscious, and couldn't focus on her techniques. Elrond sensed the discord in her mind and he strode out to the field.

"You can not give up because of an accident, Tracey. If you do not fire another arrow now, you will lose your nerve and your training will have been for naught." Elrond encouraged as he stood behind her and waited for her to nock another arrow.

Tracey sighed and knew that he was right…these damned elves always knew it all. With their centuries of knowledge, she knew that they only wanted the best for her…but being taught like a child was almost too much at times. With butterflies in her stomach, she did as her Lord and protector asked and nocked the arrow. As she raised her arms to sight, she started to shake with fear. Elrond saw her reaction and gently guided her arms to the proper position. With his face next to her ear, he whispered soothing words to her and encouraged her to remember her steps. He steadied her hands and stood behind her while he felt the tension increase in her muscles. "Breathe in, Penneth. Hold…Good, now exhale and release."

Once the lessons were over for the day, Tracey headed back to her room and took off her training clothes. She put on her jeans and her T-shirt and was getting ready to head down to the dining room for lunch. Her head was starting to pound with the oncoming cold, but she managed to ignore it and made her way to the dining hall. She took her usual seat next to Elrond and then the lunch was served. One look at the incredible lunch made her stomach start to do strange motions below the waistband of her Faded Glories…

Elrond noticed that Tracey seemed quiet during the meal, and he became concerned when he noticed a distinct pallor slip over her features. When she asked to be excused from the table, he became very concerned. He watched her as she got up and left to go to her room. Her only wish at that moment was to go and lay down. She hoped that maybe after a nap she would feel better.

After Tracey left the dining room, Elrond noticed that she had not had any of her food. The healer in him took over and he excused himself from the table. Moving to the kitchen, he got a steaming cup of chicken broth for Tracey and took it to her room with a steaming cup of herbal tea. Elrond walked quickly to the family wing and stopped outside her door to balance the tray he carried. He was about to knock on the door when he heard a muffled moan coming from behind the door. Carefully, he opened the door and saw Tracey laying face down on her bed.

Tracey heard the door open but wasn't in the mood to visit or answer questions. She just wanted to be left alone with her splitting headache and stuffed-up nose. Without turning her head, she mumbled and whined, "Go away… leave me alone… let me die in peace."

Elrond made his way over to Tracey's bed and sat the soup and tea on her nightstand. He then gently sat down on the edge of her bed and put his hand on her back rubbing gently. Then using his healer's voice, he addressed her… " Tracey, I need you to look at me and tell me what is the matter." Elrond knew that humans could get sick, and indeed as a healer, he had tended many…but he needed to know what her symptoms were to help her.

Tracey turned her head and looked at him with pained amusement on her face. "It's nothing major." she said, "I have run out for my allergy medicines, and now I have caught a cold… " she scoffed.

Elrond noticed her eyes were glassy and bright…he remembered that this was a symptom of a fever in humans. Reaching out, he laid his hand on her forehead and noted that she was slightly warmer then normal. "Tracey you have more then just a cold… you have a fever."

At that Tracey just rolled her eyes and then said, "Well… Duh! I could have told you that. I feel like crap."

Elrond then looked at her with one eyebrow raised, "Young lady, I was a healer before I was a father. Your sarcasm is not going to help you get better. Let me do my job and take care of you." he said…sounding rather put out.

Tracey looked at him with surprise when he corrected her. All of the emotions she had been keeping inside finally came to the surface. Bursting into tears, she managed to pour her heart out to the gentle soul that actually cared enough about her to see through her attitude. "I hate being sick…. I'm tired of feeling tired…. I am tired of my nose always running everywhere…. I feel achy…. And I almost killed you this morning…. And I'm thirsty ... And I miss my mother… she always knew how to make me feel better… She used to hold me when I was sick."

Elrond, sensing that the damn had finally broken, put his arms around her and held her close while he rocked her. "Penneth, I may not be your mother but I can make you feel better and I have some hot tea for you." He reached over to the night table and handed Tracey the cup with the herbal tea. She took a sip and was please to notice that it was her favorite - apple tea with cinnamon. After she had finished her tea, she sniffed and wiped her eyes. " Thank you, Elrond…this helps a lot."

Elrond smiled at her response. "You're welcome, Tracey…Now I want you to rest for the rest of the afternoon. When you wake up, I will have some medicine for your sneezing and headache." Tracey smiled sleepily and nodded as she scooted below the blankets. She was beginning to feel the effects of the sedative that Elrond had snuck into her tea. Elrond smiled gently as he tucked her in, then he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and sat beside her bed until she fell asleep.

After Elrond left Tracey's room, he headed to the healing rooms to make a medicine for Tracey's headache and cold. On the way there, he met both of his sons and Legolas as they were heading to Tracey's room to check on her.

Of the three younger elves, Legolas spoke first. "Lord Elrond, we were just going to check on Tracey. Is she well?"

"There is no need to check on her, young ones. I have just left her room and she is presently resting. It seems that she has caught a cold and is exhausted." The younger elves visibly relaxed at the news for they had never seen an illness develop quite so quickly.

Elladan, yielding to his curiosity, spoke up, "Ada where were you going?"

"I am going to the healing rooms to prepare some medicine for Tracey. When she wakes up, she will want something for her headache. You three are welcome to come with me and help me if you want." Elrond offered. He then excused himself and continued to the healing rooms. The three young elves eagerly followed behind him in the hopes that they could help their friend.

Meanwhile, Tracey was asleep and dreaming of a place that was not of the elves.

**Dream Begins**

She was in the forest again… running like she had done for most of her life. She was so hot… she needed to stop and cool off, but she knew if she stopped she would be caught and then tortured and killed by an evil dark shape… with no face or name… and no discernable figure. All of a sudden she stumbled and fell into a tree. The fall made her body ache more than it had earlier. Tracey could no longer breathe… the force of the blow knocked the wind out of her. She tried to take deep shuddering breaths…hoping that she could get air back into her lungs so she could continue to run away from the shadow. She was about to get up when she heard someone approaching. Her first instinct was to run for her life…but she realized that she actually heard footsteps…The thing that was chasing her did not have feet… So she painfully stood up on wobbly legs and came face to face with Legolas. Legolas reached out a hand to steady her. She did not take it at first. She was confused at how he could be there with her. Legolas, sensing her terror, spoke gently… "Tracey, do not be afraid. Elrond has sent me here to help you out of the shadow and bring you back to the ones who love you." At first, Tracey did not know what to make of this Legolas, but it felt so right. She reached out her own hand to grasp the one that Legolas offered. For a minute, Tracey could not figure out what was going on… but she felt an overwhelming peace wash over her and she was finally at ease.

**End Dream**

**In the healing room…**

Elrond, the twins and Legolas were making the medicine for Tracey when Legolas sensed something was amiss. He could not place the reason for the feeling, so he tried to put the thought out of his mind. However, as time passed, a sense of urgency grew inside of him and he knew that he could keep silent no longer.

Legolas laid down the knife that he was using to mince the ingredients and headed out of the door. Elrond looked up from what he was doing and saw Legolas leave. He told Elladan to finish the medicine and bring it to Tracey's room and then he asked his youngest son to follow him.

Legolas walked aimlessly and he did not know where he was going. He just knew that he had to get somewhere. He looked over his shoulder and noticed that Elrond and Elrohir were following him at a respectable distance. All three continued walking until they stopped in front of Tracy's room. Their sensitive hearing picked up faint gasping noises coming from inside of her room.

Knowing that something was wrong, the three walked into her room and saw her wildly thrashing around on the bed. Elrond was at Tracey's side in an instant. He immediately called to Tracey and then tried to reach her through her fevered dreams. Sitting down next to her, he felt the heat radiating off of her. Tracey's fever had spiked.

Elrohir and Legolas were standing on the other side of the bed and they were worried to see Tracey covered in sweat. Elrond looked over at both of them and started to give rapid orders. "Elrohir I need you to get me a bowl of cold water and a cloth." He next turned to Legolas. "I need you to come over her here and sit next to me." Legolas quickly obeyed and listened to the healer. "Now… I need you to put one of your hands on the top of her hand and your other on her forehead." Legolas tentatively reached out and touched her skin... it was very hot. "Legolas, you are the only one that can pull her from the shadows. You need to close your eyes and enter her dreams slowly. Focus on your strength and allow it to flow through you into Tracy's body…" The words that Elrond was speaking died off …and Legolas was left alone.

He looked about at his vision changed. He was left standing in the middle of a very dense forest that was anything but peaceful. It was full of the Darkness just like Mirkwood, his home. Legolas followed an overgrown path until he spotted something, or rather someone, slumped to the ground in front of a big tree. With a start, he realized that the person was Tracey, and from the looks of her, she was terrified. He watched as she stood shakily to stare at him. He offered his hand to her but she did not take it, so he tried to speak with her instead. "Tracey, do not be afraid. Elrond sent me here to guide you back to the ones who love you." His words seemed to confuse her at first, but she eventually reached out and grabbed his hand. Legolas felt a sense of peace wash over both of them and settle into their very souls.

Tracey opened her eyes and saw the concerned eyes of both Elrond and Legolas peering down at her. She felt someone holding her hand and thought briefly how nice it felt to be loved. When the hand was moved, she realized that it was Legolas that was holding her. She smiled at him in a silent gesture of thanks and Legolas smiled back.

Just then the bedroom door opened and she saw both of the twins walked in. One of them was carrying a bowl of what she assumed was cool water and a cloth and the other was carrying a mug of something. She tried to sit up but she found that she could not do it on her own. She felt weak.

Elrond saw her try to sit up but stopped her before she could overexert herself. "Tracey, my dear…please don't try to rise… you are very weak from your illness. You should have rest to regain your strength." Taking a cue from his father, the twin that was holding the cup walked over and handed it to Elrond. Elrond then gently lifted Tracy's head off of the pillow and put the cup to her lips, as he instructed her to take "small sips." When the bitter liquid hit her tongue, she started to gag. Moving swiftly, Elrond placed a bowl under her chin and held it as she promptly and unceremoniously lost what little she still had in her stomach.

Tracey moaned after her stomach was emptied. Whenever she threw up, it just made her feel worse…and throwing up in the elf lord's arms was not what she wanted to be remembered for. As if sensing her thoughts, Elrond smiled gently at her.

"You need to finish this, Penneth. Now that the illness is out of your stomach, this will help you feel better." Elrond held the cup to her lips and waited patiently as she managed to get most of it down. Afterwards, he gently eased her head back to the pillow and placed a cool rag on her forehead.

It felt so good… the cool cloth soothed the throbbing in her head… Tracey let herself rest and smiled slightly when Elrond began singing a soft lullaby to her. She felt herself becoming drowsy and knew that for the first time in her life, she felt safe…She was safe with Elrond, Elladan, Elrohir, and Legolas.

Elrond smiled at her when he saw her start to fall asleep. Although she didn't know it, more had started to heal than her body that evening…Tracey had opened her soul to them and allowed herself to begin to trust again. This was the greatest healing of all.

**End of chapter 7**

**Note 2: **sorry for the long time it took me to Update this story life and the family got in the way but i am back now and i am working on chapter 8 i will have it up as soon as i can and i am also working on a Total rewrite of the first part of the story up to chapter 6 so look for Fanfiction notices on that too. So hang on for the next chapter

**Kellie (potterfan2006)**


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes:** see notes in the previous chapters once again I would like to thank my beta for another great chapter rewrite…. I would also like to thank all of my readers for sticking with me this for it took me to get this up ... Life and College got busy for me. Now I am back with another chapter I apologize for the long wait. I will try to get the next chapter up as fast as I can. However I make no promises…to that end enjoy this long awaited chapter.

**Chapter 8**

It had been two days since the onset of Tracey's illness and she was still stuck in bed. Much to her annoyance Elrond insisted that she stay in bed for a few more days to recover. Her fever had lasted well into the second day and it climbed higher before it finally broke. Elrond, the Twins, and Legolas never left her side… except to get some food or use the bathing chamber, but even then they did not leave often. After her fever broke, Elrond insisted that they take turns watching her while the others rested. When she finally awoke, it was to the sight of Elrond sleeping in the chair next to her bed. She noted that he looked peaceful when he slept and she liked it.

As her vision cleared and the sleep passed from her eyes, Tracey realized that she needed to go to the bathroom. She slid out of bed and felt a chill run up her spine as her feet hit the cold stone floor. Bending down, she looked under her bed for a pair of slippers. Spying them with a small grin of satisfaction, she reached under the bed…and miscalculated her reach. She let out a yelp when she smacked her head under the edge of the bed and hurriedly tried to back out the same way that she had slid under it. In the process, she smacked her head again. This time she just groaned, and cursed her stupidity…this was definitely not helping the headache that she already had from the cold.

Elrond woke instantly when he heard the first thud, and he wondered what caused this disturbance in his house. He became fully alert when he heard another thud and a muffled cruse. Looking around, he saw that Tracy was not in bed…_ 'She is definitely willful if nothing else.' _As his gaze took in the room, he saw was a pair of naked legs sticking out from under the bed. Shapely, naked legs… slim but powerful, and they belonged to someone that he wanted to get to know better. He was then pulled back to the present when the legs moved.

Elrond stood up and laughed quietly as he bent down to pull Tracy out. Tracy reacted by letting out a startled yelp when she felt strong hands grip her ankles. The first thing she saw was Elrond's robes, then she saw his eyes, full of mirth and a playful smile on his face. She was desperately clutching one slipper to her chest and she looked up at the quiet healer forlornly because the other slipper was still under the bed. When he began to chuckle with his deep voice, she huffed indignantly while rubbing her head. "Great, all that pain, and all I was able to reach was one slipper…Great, just great!"

Elrond gave in to his laughter when she voiced her frustration. She was adorable when she had that look of fire in her eyes. He didn't understand why she was so frustrated over a slipper, but he suspected it was more because he had caught her out of bed. "You should be in bed, Tracy. It is much too soon to be up after your fever."

Ignoring his quiet reprimand, she said, "Lord Elrond, I have to go to the bathroom and I didn't want to disturb you. My feet were cold, so I tried to get my slippers. I managed to get one of them before you pulled me out." She crossed her arms and pouted quietly, "and now I have to go back under there and get it."

Elrond shook his head and reached down to pick Tracey up off of the floor. He admired her spirit, but was frustrated that she always had to be so independent. Even the Valar would shake their heads over this girl. He set her down carefully on the bed and then retrieved her other slipper. Looking into her eyes, he took the other slipper from her hands and placed them gently on her small feet.

Tracey was embarrassed to have a great Elf Lord place slippers on her feet. Looking at him shyly, she whispered, "Thank you."

Elrond responded by giving a small bow, and watched her as she stood up and walked weakly to the bathroom. 'Yes, she definitely had determination and spirit.' He thought as her form disappeared behind the door. While she was in the washroom, Elrond called one of the servants to serve a light breakfast to them. He was anxious to make sure that she had the proper nutrition after being asleep for so long.

A few minutes later, after Tracey finished her morning routine, she returned to the sleeping area to find Elrond standing at the table. He was pouring out two cups of what smelled like her favorite hot tea. 'Herbal teas are the best,' she thought. The ones in Middle Earth definitely had more flavor and character than the ones in her old life. She smiled with this thought and gratefully accepted a cup…feeling surprised when his fingers brushed lightly against hers. It was a small and fleeting touch, but it sent a spark through her body.

Elrond and Tracey both sat in silence for a few minutes while they sipped their Tea and nibbled on some toast and fruit slices.

Tracey then spoke, " Elrond, I want to thank you for taking care of me while I was ill. I truly appreciate everything that you have done…your kindness reminded me of my home and family."

Elrond smiled and responded warmly, " You're very welcome Tracey. You are family to all of us in Imladris." Then, once again they lapsed into a comfortable silence.

While the silence stretched, Tracey's mind started to wander. She looked out of the window and noticed that that leaves were changing colors. Most of them had already dropped off of the trees. She guessed that it must be getting close to winter, and then she was shocked because she had not realized how long she had been in Rivendell. Her thoughts moved to her family... she would miss the family traditions that she had known growing up.

Elrond noticed the sadness in Tracey's eyes and sensed the discord in her mind. He asked her what was she thinking about.

Tracy looked at him for a minute before replying… "Do you realize that it is almost winter?"

Elrond inclined his head in acknowledgement. He did not speak, knowing that she wanted to say more. Having the patience born through the ages and raising twins, he waited to hear where her thoughts were going.

She spoke again, "When I was younger, my family and I had some simple traditions for the Christmas season." Elrond rose an eyebrow in question to the word Christmas. Tracey blushed when she realized that they did not call it Christmas in Middle Earth so she clarified, "Christmas in my world is called Yule here."

Elrond nodded his head in understanding. The winter holiday had meaning for him and his family as well. He could sense her sadness and homesickness as she continued.

" In the weeks leading up to Christmas, my mom would bake the most wonderful candies and sweets. There were so many, that it would take her all that time to get them done." Tracey then got a wistful look on her face and smiled.

Elrond liked the look on her face as she reminisced. "What makes you smile so, Tracey?" he asked.

Meeting his gaze, she responded peacefully. "I remember the first time that I ever helped her make all of the treats. I was 12 years old and we were making potato candy… After we were done, we were completely covered in powered sugar and we looked like snowmen. It was so funny… When we walked out to the living room, my dad couldn't stop laughing. He had never seen use covered like that before." Then Tracey gave in to another memory, "On Christmas day I would wake up really early in the morning and sit on my bed, while I waited until mom and dad said I could get up. Dad would make Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast and we would eat them while we drank eggnog. Then we would open our presents. Christmas mornings were always the most special time for us."

Elrond frowned slightly as Tracey got up and walked over to the desk in her room. He watched as she opened one of the draws and she pulled out a leather bound book. It looked very old and well loved. His eyes followed her as she walked back over to the bed and crawled up into the blankets, before he could reprimand her for getting out of bed again.

Looking up at Elrond, she opened the book and leafed through it carefully. When she found what she was looking for, she pulled out a photograph and showed it to him. "This is a photograph or picture of my mom and dad." Elrond looked at the picture in surprise. Never before had he seen such a likeness with minute details, and there were no brush strokes.

Tracey continued to talk for a little wile about her family and her life before she came to Middle Earth. Elrond sensed that she avoided topics from time to time, but he knew that when she was ready she would tell him. As she continued speaking, he noticed that Tracey was starting to tire. Quietly he interrupted when she paused, " Tracey, why don't you try to get some more sleep? You are still recovering form you illness and your body needs to rest."

Tracey wanted to protest but she knew that Elrond was right. Looking at him, she smiled and nodded her head as she set her book beside her on the bed. Elrond tucked the covers around her as she snuggled down into the pillow. He watched as she succumbed to the sleeping herbs in the tea. When he was satisfied that she was sleeping well, he picked up the book and looked through it, taking care as he leafed through the worn pages. He was surprised that he could read the words that were inscribed on the inside cover, "To find our true nature all we need to do is look for the treasure that is hidden inside all of us." 'Tracey is indeed a treasure…if only she would see it in herself…' he thought. He then put the book back in the desk and strode into the hallway. He had some tasks that he needed to attend to while she was sleeping.

As he shut the door to her room, he noticed that Legolas and his sons were heading right for him.

Legolas greeted him quietly, "Good Morning, Lord Elrond, how is Tracey doing this morning?"

Elrond smiled at Thranduil's heir… "She woke for the break of fast and we talked about a few things that she did with her family for their Yule celebration." The three younger elves nodded their heads. Elrond continued briefly, "You can go in and watch her for me while I attend to some business, but please refrain from lively conversation as she is still healing from her illness and I want her to rest."

The three shook their heads in unison and proceeded to Tracy's room to watch over her sleep. Elrond then headed to his office to write down his ideas for a different, but new, kind of Yule celebration. Entering his office, he shut the door with a smile on his face and got to work.

**End of Chapter 8**


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